Workout Tips To Maintain Your Fitness During Ramadan

After a long day of fasting, exercising and maintaining your regular workout routine can definitely be challenging. There’s a lot to consider and adjust if you want to continue training while fasting. Instead of letting your hard work at the gym go to waste, you can come up with a plan to maintain a healthy lifestyle during this month.

Benefits and Best Workout Timings

As per experts, exercising while fasting will help you shed more since your body is burning your own calories and not dietary calories. In a fast of at least 8 hours a day, sugar and carbs consumed on that day get burnt up completely, after which the body turns to its fat stores for energy.

Maintaining your fitness regime during this time will not only clear your mind, but also help keep your energy levels up and metabolism stable. Since it takes 21 days to detoxify your body, Ramadan is the best time to do it.

The best times to exercise during Ramadan are:

• Before Suhoor – Ideally, the best time to exercise is just before Suhoor, the pre-dawn meal. Drink a lot of water and wait half an hour before beginning your workout. Limit the workout to a low-to-medium intensity one in order to prevent muscle loss.
• An hour before Iftar – If you choose to work out before iftar, be sure to lower the intensity since you have less fluids in your system. It’s important to not push yourself too much at this time by doing heavy weight training or intensive cardio exercises. Instead, opt for jogging, yoga, pilates, cycling or moderate exercises.
• After Iftar – If you prefer doing more intense exercises, then post iftar is the best time for you since you’ll have more energy after refueling your body. Great post-iftar workouts include strength and conditioning exercises and HIIT. Make sure to eat well and clean food afterwards to help with muscle recovery.
• After Taraweeh prayers – You can complete a medium-to-high intensity workout such as weight training at this time and also incorporate a pre- and post-workout meal.

Try different workout timings and duration and see what works best for you. The type of workout you choose depends on your fitness goals, but we recommend going at a slower pace than usual. Remember that you are exercising to maintain, so don’t overdo it.

Drink plenty of water between iftar and suhoor to stay hydrated. Avoid over-eating and eating oily food. Include more carbohydrates during suhoor to help you stay energetic for the rest of the day. A protein-rich diet after breaking the fast will help the body to rejuvenate. Don’t forget that sufficient sleep is as important as a good diet and helps to control cravings.

Follow our blog for more fitness tips and Ramadan meal plans. Subscribe to our newsletter and download our app on the App Store or Google Play for latest updates.